Luxor

Filed under: , , by: Coleman



On Saturday I went to Karnak temple – it’s a huge temple complex that the just about every Pharaoh added to between 2000 BCE and the Common Era. The Coolest part is the massive, massive pillars, some of which still have their original color – lots of blues and reds, but it gives you a better idea of what it looked like in its heyday. 





At night I went to the market to get because apparently I missed getting hassled, but I’ve pretty much gotten used to it. I bet it’s kind of frustrating for the business class of Egyptians because I think most tourists’ impressions of Egyptians is that of heckling, and double-handed. Everyone seems like they want to be your friend, and then they ask you to buy something, tell you about a tour, great deal, whatever. It also stinks for the people who actually genuinely want you to get a good impression of their city/country (if there are any).

On Sunday day I took a tour to the Valley of the Kings which I did my 5th grade Tzvi project on, so that was pretty cool. And I was happy to see that my 5th grade Play Dough model was pretty accurate. Most of the tombs are closed, but the 3 that I saw were pretty cool because the color hasn’t been lost. After that it was the Valley of the Queens, Colossi of Memnon, and Hatsepsut’s tomb.




I'm definitely starting to get temple burn out, but my next stop is Dahab (the cheaper version of Sharm el-Sheik), which I heard is great, so I'm really excited for that. It will be nice to just relax and stop feeling like if I don't visit every old thing within a 3hr radius, I'm missing out

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Now Accepting Bakshish

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First a word on pictures - I've been taking hundreds, but they're too big to upload so far. I know that's definitely the most interesting part of the trip, so I'm gonna try and get those up ASAP

So after and overnight train, I'm in Aswan. The overnight train was definitely an experience...If you ever wanted to know what it feels like to have the wind blow by your ass at 60mph, I recommend the train because the WC is just a hole in the floor. It was a pretty good ride though. I made some Egyptian friends looking for the bathroom (I went to another car accidentally) - we'll call them all Mohommed because I think that was half their names anyway. But it was a pretty fun conversation a lot of niceties and comparisons between NYC and Cairo because that was the limits of their English and my four words of Arabic.
In Aswan, I made it to my hotel, booked a tour to Abu Simbel - a big temple - and took the longest boat ride for the shortest distance ever. But at least I can check "take a Felluca ride" off my travel check list. It was pretty relaxing, which is definitely welcome after Cairo.
It's a little annoying to walk around knowing that everyone is trying to shake you down, but I guess you get used to it, but I keep hoping that the next person genuinely wants me to have a good impression of their city/country, then they ask for Bakshish.
Today I went to Elephantine Island (a small island with a 4000 year old village on it)

by Felluca...basically a slow ass sail boat

a woman followed me for a good three hundred feet just repeating "Bakshish, Bakshish." Bakshish for walking?

Bakshish, Bakshish Lady




So starting tomorrow, I'm going to begin asking for Bakshish. I mean I'm more rare in Egypt than Egyptians, so if people are expecting bakshsih just for me walking by them, shouldn't I be getting something in return?
Still the village was kind of cool. It's built completely interconnected and the alley ways are really tight, smelly, but interesting and different.

I tried to take a motor boat (after the Felluca took forever) to get to Aswan's West Bank to see a monestary/old tombs, but the 15, 11 and 9 year olds operating the motor boat (no joke) spun the motor on a rock, which ended the trip.

Tomorrow it's a 3:15am bus to Abu Simbel.




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You are welcome Cairo (not a thank you response)

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Last night a made it to - I think it's Shar ha'Shamayim synagogue. Which 2 days ago wad the site of an attempted bombing - just a crazy person who threw a gasoline canaster into the synagogue, but still not something I wanted to hear while in the city. When I went it was surrounded by Egyptian police who were pretty keen on me not taking a picture, so I had to be pretty discrete.
Today I made it to the Ben Ezra synagogue which was also surrounded by cards and no photo signs, but here I paid someone off to get one plus snuck a couple on my iPhone.










Then I tried to take the metro to Khan al-Khalili to see the Al-Azhar mosque, got really lost and found another(!) synagogue surrounded by police. This one looked pretty closed, and might have been the Maimonedies synagogue b/c the people at ben Ezra mentioned that the Maimonidies synagogue was being restored. But it was pretty exciting to stumble on a building with a Star of David in the "City of Minarets."

Tonight it's off to Aswan


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Hot (not so much), Flat, and Crowded

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I think putting Tom Friedman in my links gives me rights to use his title, but maybe not, so lucky this is a private blog...
Anyway I'm onto my second day in Cairo. It's a very cool city. It's dirty, crowded and I'm pretty sure Arabic originated from a very angry people because it sounds like people are constantly yelling at each other - and they might be because I don't speak a word.
But onto more exciting things like sights! Today I booked a tour of the Pyramids, booked a train to Luxor/Aswan and went to the Mosque of Ibn Tulun.
The Mosque was awesome. It's HUGE. Like Tienanmen Square huge.




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TSA (or their Egyptian Counterpart) is Apparently the Same the World Over

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I made it to Cairo after a pretty interesting flight...As we were taxiing, these 2 guys got into a fight because one started using his cell phone. I get that the cell phone thing is kind of a dumb rule, but I think whenever someone starts disobeying the rules on a plane, it gets everyone on edge. What made it worse was that when the flight attendants asked the man to show them his cell phone (like the flight attendants are a crack anti-terrorism squad that knows what they're looking for), the guys said no. I'll admit that the fact that he wouldn't give the cell phone over didn't help calm my - or I think anybody else's - worries. Ironically(?), an Israeli girl sitting next to him was egging him on, telling him that he shouldn't give the cell phone up on principle. Kind of a dumb principle. So as the plane started to return to the gate, he handed off the cell phone and we were on our way.
After a connection in Istanbul, I made it to Cairo. The insane number of police/immigration/people in uniforms carrying guns is tempered by the fact that they all seem to be more interested in their cell phones than anything going on…case in point. Apparently, there’s a visa window for foreigners at the Cairo Airport. Maybe I should have paid more attention to my Lonely Planet, but I figured that Visa on Arrival meant that as I went through immigration, I would get a visa. Erroneous. The guy at the immigration desk saw something that looked like a visa – a Bangladeshi visa, but a visa nonetheless – and stamped it and I went through immigration no problem.
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Bangladeshi now with Egyptian Stamp
Egyptian stamp on the Bangaldeshi visa

When I shared this with the people at my hostel, they showed me their very official looking visa and I thought my mom’s worst nightmare would come true – I would be stuck in Egypt. Or my worst nightmare – a night in a foreign jail trying to explain that I didn’t try to enter the country illegally…So it was onto the visa extension office. When I showed up, they said everything was fine, but decided that I should have another stamp. If everything was fine with my first stamp, I’m not sure why I needed another one. But I now have a very decorative passport page filled with Bangladeshi visas and Egyptian stamps.




Decorative Egyptian stamp (on left).
Very technical - complete with stamper's writing

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Next Stop Cairo

Filed under: by: Coleman

And I'm on my way.



Syrian Visa came through.
Hot my ticket. Turkish Airlines not Air Egypt. I'm a big fan of in-flight TVs.




I made it on the plane all carry-on.


The bags are smaller in person...

My flight stops in Turkey then on to Cairo. Should be in Cairo at 12:45pm local time.

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Supply Side Jesus

Filed under: by: Coleman

Al Franken's Supply Side Jesus:

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How Eritrea and the Snowpocolypse Conspired to Kill my Travel Plans

Filed under: by: Coleman

If it wasn't for the embassy of Eritrea and the two weeks it took them to send my passport back to me without a visa(!), I'm pretty sure I would be in Cairo right now.
Instead, my passport is just chillin' in the Syrian Embassy for the foreseeable future because Washington DC doesn't know how to plow snow!

Photo courtesy of one Yonatan Zamir

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Pictures from a great weekend

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An Epic Weekend

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What a great weeked...So many people were in NYC for Dani and Jon's Engagement.





The spread - courtesy of Evan and Kate










Friday night was an excellent impromptu Deis reunion. It was so great to see so many people semi-randomly living/gathering in NYC.
Sometimes things just click and this was definitely one of those times.
Great friends, great parties, great fun.



Scoring a point in Nerf basketball is apparently a huge deal and requires shirtless celebrating

MOMA



Picasso...not pretencious. Rest of the MOMA? Somewhat pretencious...

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The interim, passports and keeping busy

Filed under: by: Coleman


I got my passport back from the Eritrean Embassy. Kind of funny how quickly they were able to ship it back, but were unable get me the visa - which is supposed to take 5 days - in 10 days. It's alright. It doesn't look like I would make it to Eritrean anyway. So now my visa is headed to the Syrian Embassy. Hopefully they are more on top of their game and I get a visa, get my passport back, get my ticket, and start the trip!
I've been spending my time trying to finish the PADI online certification so I can scuba dive. I'm a little nervous that an online course is supposed to teach me the basics of staying underwater for extended periods of time, but I guess it works. I also hope the diving goes better than the first time I dove...November 2003 - Avi's Bachelor Cruise.

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My Visas

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 Yellow fiat taxis ply the streets of Asmara, another relic of Italian colonial days
The Eritrean embassy, I think, at this point, is pretty much holding my passport hostage. As someone pointed out, this is a much better situation than being a hostage IN Eritrea...Still my passport has been at the Embassy since January 19, and no one is returning my calls...the most frustrating part is that Eritrea was a total bonus country, and not one that I am likely to get to. Especially at this rate...

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